It's not even about the villa itself, really. And in people and service. More details later.
The owner of the villa, Mila Balic, showed us her "hospitality" right away, when we hadn't even had time to settle in...
- When she was asked if she could give an iron so that people could iron their things, she refused) First she asked how many things needed to be ironed. "10? No, what are you? ! That's too much! I won't give you an iron! " He said, we have a lot of work here (washing, ironing) and we can't give an iron, because we have to do it ourselves. This, in my opinion, is an indicator that you should not expect decent service and care for the comfort of guests here. Is the cost of an iron so high that you can't buy at least one for the guests of the villa?!
- We did not have to wait long for check-in and the keys to the room were handed to us immediately upon arrival. BUT! When I entered the room, I saw that it was not cleaned: sheets crumpled on the bed, garbage in buckets, dirty towels, etc. And when I politely and without pretensions informed the owner about this, she rolled her eyes at me and said: " Are you nervous? ! I let you into the room before! "...Some strange reaction...You could have just informed that the room had not been cleaned yet. Should I say that you need to wait until they clean up...
- That's not all. The villa has a swimming pool. It can be used from 9:00 a. m. to 8:00 p. m. You can't jump into it. Swim in a mask, flippers, etc. , too. My child, having forgotten that you can't jump, did jump into that pool once. As soon as this happened, the hostess immediately ran out of the house and saw the fight. I got the impression that she was standing outside the door and waiting for this moment))
- Another nuance - cleaning. More precisely, its absence.
We stayed at the villa for 9 nights. During this time, our bed linen was changed once. Wet cleaning was never done. One day they didn't supply toilet paper. Also, once wet towels were taken away, but clean ones were not given. It's good that they were...
I heard complaints from the neighbors about the maid who came to clean when people were in the room and even when asked to wait until they left, she brazenly came in and started doing her work)
- The room was very, very compact. Tight even for two people. It was impossible to pass between the bed and the kitchen unit)
- I was upset that the owner refused the possibility of a late check-out, although, as we later understood, our room was empty until the evening for sure. You need to check out from the room at 09:30. And the bus we were supposed to use to return home left at 10:00 p. m. That is, we could have a full day of rest at sea. And we were ready to pay!
But Mila refused us, saying that she would accommodate new guests. Although, as I already said, the room was only cleaned around 20:00 in the evening...
She allowed to leave things at the entrance of the villa and everything. You do not have the opportunity to take a shower or go to the toilet. She offered us to take a shower and change clothes on the beach.
It would seem that there is nothing terrible, but such moments spoil the overall impression...I did not want to cross paths with the owner or ask her for something.
If such moments do not frighten you, then you can consider Villa Balic as an option for a stop. Just take your iron with you and avoid meetings with the owner and everything is ok)
The location of the villa is good, there are cafes and restaurants nearby, the beaches are close. Nature is incredible!
Although the villa does not have many rooms, you cannot call it particularly small - there are decent-sized rooms and, which is no less pleasant, spacious corridors. In general, it does not produce the impression of a "stubby" building. In general, I liked the atmosphere there. Very cozy and well maintained courtyard with lots of greenery. The big plus here, of course, is the presence of a good real pool, and not its pathetic imitation. There is also a jacuzzi next to the pool, but with us it was out of order, perhaps it is launched only at the height of the season, which in Montenegro begins only in mid-June. Breakfasts are provided.
During our visit and inspection of the villa, the owner followed the group very zealously and watched who looked where and what touched, apparently, he was worried about the matter and was quite strict. It's hard to say if this is good or bad.
The classical design of the villa gives it an exquisite austerity and chic, which is emphasized by high-quality wooden doors and solid furniture. Everywhere is clean and pleasing to the eye. Rooms of different variations, but all with kitchens, so you can save on food. All rooms have at least a side sea view, which is also great. I especially liked the interesting attic room, sort of like a "pent-house" - there is a large living-dining room combined with a kitchen and a TV room, as well as two bedrooms, large and small. This room has a completely different design and cheerful colors. It is a room for a maximum of 5 people.
When visiting this villa, we were able to chat with some of the guests - a family with a small child. They were genuinely happy, despite the not entirely favorable weather, and excitedly talked about the rest, praising both the villa and the town - people were sincerely pleased with everything.
So, I think this is not a bad option for a quiet comfortable stay in a fabulous place. Yes, and to the beach, although 200 meters, but you will overcome this path with pleasure. I would like to rest there!
P. S. We had one of the best rooms in this villa. Regarding the pool - chemistry, which is regularly added (seen in person). Its presence is a dubious necessity, not an advantage (subjective).
This summer I vacationed with my husband in Montenegro from July 18 to August 1. We stayed at Villa Balich. Very nice cozy villa. We had a room with a terrace with a stunning view of the Adriatic Sea and the hotel island. The villa is small. the rooms are clean, equipped with everything you need / air conditioning, shower, comfortable bed, TV, stove, coffee maker /. The pool is rather big: 1.25/1.85. Continental breakfasts: coffee, tea, orange juice, kefir, freshly baked homemade bread without fail. In addition, there were regular omelets, with ham, with bacon; regular scrambled eggs, with ham, with bacon. Sometimes there were soft-boiled eggs, cheese, Montenegrin ham (prosciutto). By the way, very tasty. I recommend. The cheeses are also extraordinary. Fresh vegetables and fruits were often given, especially watermelons. Yummy. Near the villa in the shops you could also buy various delicious things, especially wines. I recommend white Krstach and red Vranac Procorde. In general, the country itself is simply wonderful - subtropical climate, abundant vegetation, sun, clear azure sea (transparency reaches 55 meters), ancient ancient cities, nature reserves - all this attracts millions of tourists to Montenegro. Fairy tale!
Villa Balic is a small private house with 10 rooms, four or five of which have a sea view. The rest of the rooms do not have terraces, like the ones mentioned above, but balconies, from which, in principle, you can look in three directions: the mountains, the sea and the neighboring house. =)
This villa is inhabited by 80% of the British and Irish, and the rest belongs to vacationers from Russia and Ukraine. Maybe it is this contingent that leads to such silence in the villa. . . =)
The territory near Balich is not at all large, but very cozy and well-groomed. The hostess, a sweet woman with the corresponding name - Mila, didn’t communicate much with the owner, but every evening she watched how diligently he looked after the green part of the territory, of which there are quite a lot.
The entire territory of the villa consists of two equal parts, separated by a ladder. On one side there is a swimming pool with sun loungers and umbrellas, and on the other side there are tables where breakfasts are served for those who have them included. You can also eat (dine) at the villa by ordering from the hosts on the mini-menu, but the price is more expensive than in cafes located 5.10 and 15 meters from the villa, where you will be offered a much larger assortment.
It is also worth noting that you cannot dive in the pool, swim with mattresses and similar water accessories, and you cannot sit near it with your own food and drinks, but the latter can be ordered at the villa for a fee. I think that these restrictions should be treated as etiquette, which is adopted in order to make everyone comfortable in the villa, including you! =) Having seen and felt the atmosphere in the villa, you will see for yourself that all this is in place and does not bother you at all. =)
There is a small road in front of the villa, along which a bus runs to Budva every half an hour. We were warned about this in advance and were even a little upset because of the presence of this road, but during the rest we realized that it did not interfere at all - the movement was not at all active. And here you should pay attention to the fact that sightseeing buses do not drive up to this villa due to inconvenience (narrow road), and the tourists of the villa need to climb the main highway, the so-called "Jadransky Put". This, perhaps, is almost the only disadvantage of the villa. But you shouldn’t be too scared of this, because. the main road is located just a three minute walk from the villa through the yards, up the stairs. The only trouble is walking along this very ladder with heavy suitcases on wheels, but with them you can go around the road along which the Budva bus runs. It will take 10 minutes.
As for the sea, then go to it min. 10-15 walking steps, again along the stairs. =) But in spite of this, it also did not cause any discomfort, on the contrary, it was very pleasant to walk around such a nice place and listen to the noise of cicadas. This ladder is shady and very pretty.
I also want to draw the attention of all those who are going to rest in Montenegro to the fact that during our 2 weeks of stay in this wonderful country we traveled a lot of beaches, and were in many cities and came to the conclusion that the most wonderful place for REST is the village. Sveti Stefan, near which the most beautiful beaches are located, and as for the noisy Becici and Budva, you can always get to them by Budva bus, cat. runs every half hour from 8 am to 2 am!
Number. We had a room with a terrace overlooking the sea. In the room: air conditioning, French double bed, 2 bedside tables with two drawers, 2 lamps + main lighting (the room is generally very bright), chest of drawers, TV (2 Russian channels), table, 2 chairs, kitchenette (sink, 2 wardrobes, refrigerator, place for freezing ice, electric stove with two burners, dishes), wardrobe for clothes and shoes. On the floor in the corridor, bathroom and kitchen part of the room - tiles, in the bedroom - parquet and rugs. The bathroom has something like a bookcase on wheels with 4 shelves, very convenient, since there is often nowhere to put bathroom accessories. There is also a large mirror in the bathroom, and when you leave the room, there is also a mirror on the closet. On the terrace - a table, two chairs and a bench.
The room was cleaned every day, but the terrace, in my opinion, was sometimes ignored. The bed was changed every three days, towels - more often.
Well, it seems that everything has been said... ))
I wish you all a good rest and unforgettable impressions in sunny Montenegro!! !
The tour of the Kiev company "Siesta" through our Dnepropetrovsk "Vidpochinok", everything was fine with local operators. We flew out with Aerosvit, but for some reason the flight was delayed for 1 hour and flew in general by some Polish aircraft of the Centralwings company. By the way, due to supposedly turbulent phenomena that passengers did not feel, almost half of the cabin was deprived of soft drinks. Everything was fast at the Tivat airfield: the border guards did not require any vouchers, and I didn’t even notice the customs, everyone was impressed by the cool view during landing - the airfield strip next to the bay! Back, by the way, they also flew the same aircraft of the Centralwings company, however, this time the stewards managed to distribute everything.
The local tour operator "Compass", guide Larisa, promptly met, noted, seated in a bus with air conditioning, and in half an hour they took everyone. On Sveti Stefan we were with my wife and that's it. In order not to wait for the minibus, we went down to the villa in five minutes, it is located a little lower next to the BMW villa.
Villa Balich looks and really is one of the most prestigious - Russians, Ukrainians, British, Germans have a rest, it has 4 floors with terraces and a beautiful courtyard with trees and tables at which we had breakfast. This is the first of (as far as I know) 3 villas in the village where there is a pool, very large and deep. You can see photos of the pool, villas and apartments on their website http://www. balic. cg. co. yu. Our studio on the 3rd floor is 302 meters, with a neat toilet room and a kitchen counter with a refrigerator (we only made coffee there sometimes), a French bed, new furniture, TV, air conditioning. Everything is new, neat, paintings, rugs, decently.
Immediately about the disadvantages of Villa Balich - there are 4 of them:
1 - if 4 * by the standards of villas, there should be at least soap in the toilet room, there was none, there was, however, plenty of toilet paper;
2 - in the wardrobe, part of the “hangers” were made of metal wire, as when receiving clothes from dry cleaning;
3 - expired butter was constantly given for breakfast;
4 - in the toilet room there is only one holder for towels, you can hang a maximum of two, but they gave out six for two.
In the rest - everything is of high quality, corresponds, the staff does not flicker before our eyes.
Towels were changed every day, they were also cleaned every day, bed linen was changed once a week.
Continental breakfast - scrambled eggs or scrambled eggs, juice, sausages, bread, jam, coffee, tea, fruit.
Swimming pool from 8.00 to 20.00, sun loungers, umbrellas, showers - everything is class!
The village of Sveti Stefan is one of the so-called image holiday destinations, although the island-hotel itself is still closed for repairs, but the park, beaches, nature, beauty are super!
Of course, in some places there is a territory closed due to repairs, but you can walk around Milocer Park and the beaches.
For the period of our vacation, the village free beach was opened - this is if you look at the island - on the left. If you wish, you can take a set - 2 sunbeds and 1 umbrella on this beach closer to the village costs 13 euros, closer to Sveti Stefan (behind an impromptu mooring for jet skis) - 10 euros. Naturally, there are the most people on it, but compared to Budva, Becici, Rafailovici, Przno - just emptiness. Every hour a boat brought vacationers to it from Budva and Becici. The beach to the right of Sveti Stefan is paid - at the entrance for 20 euros they give out 2 sunbeds and 1 umbrella. The same set on the beach of King Milocer costs 30 euros - 4-6 people usually rested there. The queen's beach is completely closed - there is constant security with walkie-talkies, probably some kind of leadership is resting.
Milocer park and nature around Sveti Stefan, the island itself - just awesome! Cicadas, the sound of the sea, beauty.
There are many cafes and restaurants in the village, the most normal in terms of price and deliciousness is the Drago restaurant. Everywhere is very calm, the music is almost inaudible, calmness. For a party, you can go to Budva - a regular shuttle bus - 1.5 euros. The old town in Budva with the Citadel is a very good place!
There are many small stone churches and monasteries in Montenegro, some near Sveti Stefan. We went on foot to the Praskavitsa monastery, went on excursions to the Ostrog monastery - these are just miracles! It is impossible to describe in words - you have to see it.
We also went on a second excursion to the Bay of Kotor or the fjord, the old town of Kotor is a tiny Dubrovnik, similar to the old town of Budva. The serpentine from Kotor to Cetinje is only for a healthy head and a strong stomach with nerves - the serpentine is not for the faint of heart! I really liked it, although it was scary.
What I didn’t like about this tour was the second capital city of Cetinje and the king’s palace. The city is worse than the most provincial depressive village, and the king's palace looks like an old collective farm House of Culture, although there are very interesting exhibits.
In Cetinje, in the monastery, the right hand of John the Baptist and a particle of the cross on which Christ was crucified are available. These are truly wonderful relics!
The rest of the time we rested, sunbathed, swam, sailed on a boat and swam in the sea, went to various interesting restaurants in old Budva (in the Citadel and on the embankment), in general, we were very satisfied.